1. Field Of The Invention
The present invention relates to sterilizer carts and methods for use and particularly to carts which transport a wheeled carriage that can be rolled into the sterilizer as the cart docks therewith.
2. Description Of The Prior Art And Objectives Of The Invention
It is standard practice in hospitals and other organizations requiring sterilized appliances and instruments to utilize manually propelled carts constructed to transport wheeled sterilizer carriages thereon. Such carts can be maneuvered throughout various areas of the hospital and unsanitized appliances, instruments and other equipment can be placed within the carriage for subsequent sterilizing. Once the carriage has been sufficiently loaded the cart is pushed to an autoclave or other sterilizing unit which is adapted for docking with the cart and to receive the laden carriage. The carriage is conventionally rolled along rails atop the cart, said rails for aligning with comparable rails mounted within the sterilizing unit. Once the carriage has been directed into the sterilizer along the rails, the cart is removed and the sterilizer door closed for the processing cycle. Thereafter, the sterilizer door is opened, and the cart is again docked and the carriage rolled from the sterilizer onto the cart for return to a central supply area where the instruments and equipment are removed and stored for reuse. Sterilizer carriages are generally constructed of stainless steel and when loaded may weigh several hundred pounds. Hence, it is important that the docking, insertion and extraction of the carriage into and from the sterilizer be as simple, quick and accurate as possible. The increasing cost of labor for medical personnel has necessitated the employment of relatively unskilled personnel to collect instruments and equipment for sterilizing, and in the past carriages have been carelessly inserted and improperly positioned within sterilizers, causing the sterilizing cycle to be less than fully effective. Also, conventional carriages have even been derailed within the sterilizer, causing damage or at least great difficulty in righting the carriage so it can be extracted. With the temperatures inside the sterilizer reaching well over 200.degree. F., it is extremely important, for the sake of safety and to save time and energy that the docking and movement of the carriage from the cart to the sterilizer be precisely and promptly achieved. Once the sterilizing cycle is completed, only minimum handling of the carriage during extraction is desired so as many cycles of sterilization per shift as possible can be carried out. Also, during loading and unloading of carriages from conventional sterilizer carts, one of the rails of the cart may be misaligned or spaced from its complementary rail within the sterilizer. This can cause a carriage wheel to derail and if this happens the carriage, weighing several hundred pounds, may have to be manually lifted and placed back on track at great inconvenience for entry or exit with the sterilizer.
The aforesaid advantages and problems associated with prior art carts, carriages and methods have been overcome by the invention described herein and one of its objectives is to provide a sterilizer cart and method for docking a sterilizer cart with a sterilizer by providing the sterilizer with a docking post and providing the sterilizer cart with a v-like receptacle for receiving said post for alignment and engagement therewith during docking.
It is another objective of the present invention to provide a sterilizer cart with casters which include a detent member whereby the cart can be relatively easily, laterally shifted and steered for better alignment with the sterilizer heating chamber during carriage insertion or extraction.
It is yet another objective of the present invention to provide a caster assembly having a spring-loaded means to guide the wheel and a detent member contiguous thereto whereby the guide member is releasably secured in an indention along the detent member for release therefrom for final steering ease and cart alignment with the sterilizer heating chamber.
It is also an objective of the present invention to provide a sterilizer cart which has biased rail ends which will abut complementary biased rail ends within the sterilizer heating chamber to insure safety, ease and convenience in rolling a carriage thereover.
It is still another objective of the present invention to provide a cart having a docking post receptacle which comprise a pair of post side guide members which form a v-like opening therebetween and which also includes a spring-loaded hingeable tongue which can be raised during docking by contact with a sterilizer docking post and thereafter can be manually raised by a control rod assembly on the cart for withdrawing the cart from the docked positioned.
Various other advantages and objectives of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art as a more detailed description of the apparatus and its methods are presented below.